A Day in The World
by LadyHepatica
Summary: A girl who loves Balmung goes through her days in The World until she falls apart. After .hack.SIGN, before .hack.Twilight
1. Let's Start!

The Story is slow, but it will warp into something. This story is in 1st person, hope I do well!

…._Character Login...Diann.._

_…Class...Wavemaster.._

_…Level...18.._

_…User password...valid…_

_…Logging in user...complete..._

(Warped in from chaos gate) Today is another day in "The World!" I had a day off from school so I can get back to leveling up my character. "The World" is an online MMORPG or an online RPG. This massive online game is where players get to choose different character classes and get to interact with each other. You can roam the root towns or go on a dungeon adventure with three party members. A chaos gate is the main way to get in and out of the town to go to a field map or another server root town. I've been playing "The World" ever since the prototype game "Fragment" was out. I have to replay as a different character now, so that's why I'm on such a poor level. My current character is unique to look similar to my real self, though this character is WAY skinnier than my real self. I have dark brown hair down to my mid-back and dark brown eyes. I'm wearing a dark red robe that goes down to my ankles with a crimson scarf near my neck and a similar sash around my waist. I have brown boots on and my weapon is pretty simple since I don't have enough money to get a better one. Today, I'm thinking that I can bring it up to 20 so I can begin to level up in the next root town.

Before I go anywhere, I want to visit my favorite place one more time before I set off on the adventure. But, I don't want to go alone…I know, I'll ask Balmung to come with me. I'll call his member address to come. Meanwhile, I'll just wait for him. Balmung is a renowned player in "The World" as he was one of the members to complete the final mystery of "The World". He is famous for his coat of white feathers and silver armor, something he won in a very special event, so his full title is "Balmung of the Azure Sky." I always get so happy to think that he's going to come with me to somewhere, he is so cute and awesome. Sometimes I daydream that he'll just come in riding on a beautiful snowy roan and sweep me off my feet.

I was then interrupted in my thoughts by a male blademaster; he was probably asking me to barter for his novice items. He asked, "Would you like to trade with me?" I kindly told him, "I'm sorry, I'm waiting for someone so I do not have the time to trade with you. You can go over to that group and trade with them; they look like they would have the stuff you want." He then replied. "Oh, alright, thank you very much," and then he left. Right now, I was in the root town of Mac Anu as I watched the sunset and the bright orange and red sky. I was startled to hear his voice, he spoke from behind me,"Hey, I got your e-mail, so where are we going to today?" I said, "Oh! Balmung, you scared me!" Balmung then said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that." I then said, "Well, I wanted to go to my favorite place today before I go leveling up, and I want you to come with me!" He frowned, "You called me out here for that, Diann I told you that it's alright to go by yourself to _your_ place because there are no monsters in that area and there's no way you could ever get lost. Besides your level is 18 and that place is only a level 6 area."

I blushed a bright pink and whined, "It's scary to go there sometimes by myself and I want you to protect me from anything bad that might happen!" Balmung sighed putting a hand up to his face and then said, "Alright, fine, let's go…" With that I shouted with joy, "YAY! Thank you, Balmung" After that we walked to the chaos gate and when we got there it was time to leave. We both say the three words of the place we'd like to go and that goes for any other place in "The World". We both said, "Hidden Forbidden Holy-Ground!" then we warped out to the field. My favorite place is a different place than the normal fields of "The World"; this place is in a different dimension inside of the game. What makes it so different is that it's basically one giant hole or crevasse with high mountains so you can't see beyond it. In the middle of the hole is the tiny place that looks like a small cathedral, but I call it the sanctuary. It consists of a bridge that is cut short by tall walls so no one can fall over the edge and the only thing supporting the sanctuary so it won't fall in the dark abyss are some rock-shaped pedestals.

What makes this place so scary sometimes is when we arrive there you expect some BGM (background music) to be playing, but the only thing you here is complete and utter silence. Only your footsteps can be heard, also you end up gating in at the edge of the bridge you have to walk all the way down to the sanctuary(it's not that long of a walk), but I somehow find that frightening.

Now that we had arrived and we started walking to the sanctuary. I held on to Balmung's hand and walked behind him. We then went up the steps, but what I like about it is that once you get close enough to the sanctuary, that's when you start hearing the BGM. After that, I feel comfortable and I'm not scared anymore.

Once inside you can see a bunch of swinging giant pendulums with pews on both sides and at the end, which is the best thing about this place, is the crying statue of Aura. Aura was an NPC (non-player character) A.I. (artificial intelligence) who was an important role through the last mystery of "The World".

What I like so much about this place is that so many special, touching and tragic events have taken place here. Memories that lie in this place bring all the emotions back into my heart. I like being here in solitude because the sweet lament of sadness touches me so and I always think back to those times. So I officially call this place Aura's Sanctuary of Broken Memories. This place is what's left of a tragic past. The statue of Aura really isn't crying, but the statue is so sad looking with eight heavy chain intertwining around her it really does look like she is crying. After a while of solitude thoughts, I looked over at Balmung to find that his feathers were shedding again and now they left a trail of feathers behind him. He was still lost in thought so I thought I would be respectable to the sanctuary and not leave a mess.

I started to pick them up one by one; every feather of his is so gorgeous. I'm really lucky to have him with me all the time, I always tend to want to keep all of his loose feathers. After I picked them all up, I was about to go up to Balmung and tell him about it when suddenly someone had grabbed me from behind and wrapped their arms around me also holding two twin blades attached to his arms(by his weapons)close to my face. I then yelped and dropped all of Balmung's feathers. Then Balmung turned around surprised to see me in the grip of the worst possible person ever. The number one most wanted player killer in "The World" (player killers are ones who don't follow the rules of "The World" and kill other players which is not permitted in the game) His name is Sora and he pretty much vexed everyone in "The World". His style was to forcibly take someone's member address and join their party whenever he wanted to, then he would kill everyone in the party and take their treasures from the dungeon adventure they went on. He asked me calmly, "Your member address if you please." I yelled, "No! Let me go! Help me Balmung!" Balmung had taken a step forward and had taken out his sheathed sword. He said in a most sober and angry voice, "Sora, let her go! If you don't then I will kill you!"

Sora laughed playfully and said, "I see feather brain is still as stubborn as ever and so serious too. You better not do anything or else your little girlfriend here will get her pretty little face ruined." With that I got angry too, but he dragged us outside of Aura's sanctuary out to the far end of the bridge. Now the sweet music of the sanctuary was growing distant as silence surrounded us all, except for our steps and Sora's stupid humming. Once close to the edge of the wall Sora had said, "All I wanted was to have some fun with you Balmung, you don't talk to me much anymore, but once I get her member address, I can see you anytime and then we'll go on a dungeon adventure. Then, once we get the treasure, I get the girl and then I get you (meaning he'll kill us)." Then Sora started laughing putting his guard down. That's when I started to act. I quickly bit his arm and he drew it away. I dived behind him to get his attention, and it worked. He turned around to get me and totally forgot about Balmung.

As soon as Sora turned, Balmung had his sword drawn and he plunged at Sora's back, swinging his sword with mighty wrath. Balmung had managed to slash into Sora's back, which had almost shortened his hit points (HP) in half. He turned to Balmung and yelled at him, "Ow! Meanie, that's no fair. I guess I'll play with you another time!" Sora then jumped away spryly onto the edge of the bridge wall. Balmung yelled and tried to jump and slash straight at him a second time. Sora said, "Bye, bye! Boing!" Then he jumped and warped out as Balmung on forward reaction kept on going and slashed the air. Then gravity took him down over the edge, I had such a horrified look on my face. He fell over the bridge wall and I screamed, "Balmung! Nooooo!" I could only hear his scream echo far away until it disappeared. I desperately tried to climb the bridge wall to see, but it was too tall and I slipped to the side of it.

I began to cry because I thought that I had lost another loved one to this place (if you die in the sanctuary then you'll become just like the statue, chained up to stay there forever). I was filled with an overwhelming grief, blaming myself entirely because I was the one who had invited him. I uttered, "No Balmung, you can't. It's my fault. You can't die. It should have taken me instead." When a player dies in "The World" they become a ghost and stay with the party until they are resurrected back into the party or all party members die and its "game over". However, all games have bugs, only in this game, virus monsters had before in the past appeared and if you died from a data bug then you would slip into a coma in the real world and no one knew if you would come out of it. Now I thought that I should just go over the cliff myself.

All of a sudden, I felt something fall on my head; it turned out to be a feather. I was surprised and I looked up to see Balmung flying towards me, feathers flying all over the place. His magnificent wings shone in the light. He landed close to me and I became so relieved that he wasn't dead I ran to him and hugged him. He then gently asked me, "I'm sorry for letting this happen to you and making you worry. Are you alright?" I mumble softly, "What about you? I thought you might have…you might have…" "It's alright now. I'm fine, Diann. I'm glad you're okay too. How about we go back? We've been through a lot." I smiled at him and gladly said, "Alright," then both of us had gated out of the area and back into the root town. Once we got back to Mac Anu it was time to disband the party, like always.

"Well, thank you so very much Balmung for helping me and protecting me, even though you risked your life for me. I don't how I can ever repay you. You're so kind to me yet your always stubborn too, well thank you anyways." Balmung felt embarrassed when I probably said that, but he said in a cheerful voice, "No problem, if you ever need me, just e-mail, I'll always come. I'll see you tomorrow okay? Bye!" With that he turned around and logged out. That Balmung; he's such a great guy, even if it's only a game. Well I better log out too.

…Logging player out

…Saving progress…

…Complete.

XO AHH! The first chapter was good and the rest just suck!!! TT.TT


	2. Kitten Troubles

…Login user...Diann…

…Logging in user...complete…

"Alright! It's another brand new day in The World and new adventures await me, so let's go!" That's what I was thinking when I logged into The World. I thought that today maybe I wouldn't invite my friend Balmung with me and go a little exploring on my own. After warping in from the chaos gate or the server Mac Anu, I walked over to the big bridge facing the sun. "Wow, this server is always so full of players and a myriad of beginners." I chuckled lightly to myself. I pondered aloud where I should go next since I'm not good at choosing over things. I didn't know if I should just go straight to a field dungeon or go to a different server and buy some items.

I decided just to go to a dungeon and with that, I walked back to the chaos gate. I warped to "Distant Island Water Gate", a level 18 dungeon for a challenge. I came upon a forest-like field with an opening to some sort of beach, but the dungeon was the other way according to the map. I haven't seen a beach at all in The World so I had to go check it out. I passed through the thick trees and bushes to the clear sands of a calm beach. It seemed peaceful since I was the only one there, or so I thought. It was dazzling to hear ocean waves and see the surge of the water; I could see for miles and the bright sun and the cooling breeze was relaxing.

This was an amazing site, but I had to go to the dungeon; I couldn't stay here forever, but maybe I'll come back here when I'm through in the dungeon. As I turned to head back into the forest, something luminous had caught my eye. I wasn't exactly sure what it was, but it seemed to have disappeared behind the giant boulders at the far end of the beach. Curiosity got the best of me so I had to go see what this brightness was. I walked over to the far end of the beach, and behind the boulders the ocean led into small inlets which seemed just waist deep at the most. I began to look around for anything out of the ordinary when I came upon a shiny gold bell on the ground.

I picked up the bell which seemed to be a cat's bell, a type of bell one can tie on a pet or wear. It was so adorable, shaped into a cat. I love cats, though I could never have one; but I thought that bells come with ribbons and I found none so I assumed it was washed away. I had also thought that this bell may be a rare item since it's so odd I found it in a place like this. I decided to keep it so I put it in my bag. As I was about to go back again I heard a noise, a noise that was impossible to hear here; a noise I never would have thought I would ever hear; the one noise that I always wished I could hear; a noise that was not coincidence: a cat's meow. I was incredulous. Did I hear a cat meow? Am I just hearing things? Or could it be her… I frantically looked around to see or hear anything else.

Suddenly a pair of strong arms grabbed me from behind into a hug which terrified me. The arms held me in the hug to calm me down and reassure me that I was safe. I took a moment to catch my breath before I would pass out from shock. Then I looked up to see who was holding me and found none other than Balmung smiling ear to ear at me. I yelled at him, "Stop doing that! I can't believe you followed me here just to scare me!" Balmung replied, "No, I wanted to email you because I was already in The World, but then I saw you and followed you." I asked, "But why?" Balmung answered, "Think about it; if you're going to a level 18 dungeon by yourself it is hard and the fact that you're a wavemaster you can only use magic that would be a problem for magic tolerant monsters."

I broke free of Balmung's hug and turned around to face him. "So? I can take care of myself." I then tried to leave in anger when I heard the noise again and stopped. The meow sounded so cute I turned around to face Balmung who was also listening to the sound. He asked me, "What was that noise?" There was another meow again, but it sounded more fragile, urgent, and a bit distressed. I said, "I'm sure that it's a cat's meow and it sounds like it needs help." With that, Balmung's eyes widened and he said, "No, that's impossible. There is no existence of cats or cat players in The World unless it's a virus, illegal data, or…" His face turned from confusion and shock to worry, then he conscientiously took my hand and tried to lead me away from the boulders and the sound. "What are you doing Balmung?" I struggled and tried to stop. "Let me go, I have to see what it is!" I yelled to him, but he continued to drag me away.

"I won't…I won't let you get hurt again Diann!" he said with contrition. I stopped and looked at him with guilt and sympathy remembering what happened last time I encountered something that could not exist in The World. After that incident, Balmung is overprotective and has had a thing against cats, now he doesn't like them at all. Before I could say anything we heard a loud crash where the meowing had occurred. We both ran over to see what was going on. When we arrived, we saw that there had been a recent struggle within the scattered bushes and leaves. Suddenly, Balmung pushed me down to the ground as a shadow moved past and slashed the air where I was.

We gasped when we looked up and realized who the shadow was, it was Sora who was holding a cute and adorable kitten in one hand. The kitten was small, a light purple maybe lavender color. It's eyes were crimson red, and oh so beautiful. "Oh wow! It's so cute!" I said, but when I looked at the cat I saw that it was fragile and weak. Then I realized Sora had attacked the poor cat just before and captured it. Sora began to smile at me and said, "Well, well, well, what do we have here? I see the cutey that got away from me and feather boy seeking revenge. What brings you here?" I yelled at him, "What did you do to that cat, you better let it go!" He replied, "Oh dear, it seemed to be looking for something so I followed it and then it found me. Unfortunately, it put up a fight so I had to hurt it, now I'm taking it with me into the dungeon to get my rare event or rare item." I asked him, "Why do you think it will help you?" Sora grinned and said "Because, if it doesn't help me then…" He held his blade towards the cat which had it's eyes closed in pain. Then he said, "So if you don't mind, I'll be on my way, Bye Bye!"

Sora jumped up onto a tree branch and hopped tree branches the rest of the way towards the dungeon. I quickly turned to Balmung who had just watched, not knowing what to do in this situation. I said, "Balmung, please, you have to save that cat, he's going to hurt it!" He just looked down and said, "I know that Sora is a bad guy, but that cat is no different from him; it's something bad, I just know it is. I got angry and slapped Balmung across the face and yelled, "You idiot! If you don't help that cat, then I will. I can't let Sora hurt it no matter what it is or what it may do because it's not an event or an item!" I began to run towards the dungeon, but Balmung grabbed me. "Wait, fine, I know I hate cats and player killers, but I'll help it, for you, just don't get hurt, just log out if you find trouble, okay?" He gave me one last hug, and I told him, "Please help the kitten." He nodded and obeyed my supplication to head for the dungeon and chase Sora down.

Balmung chased Sora along the branches with such chivalry he seemed to be acting like a real knight in shining armor. After noticing Balmung was chasing him, Sora jumped down from the branches and landed near a short cliff by the dungeon entrance. The little cat said nothing but looked frightened still with it's eyes closed as Balmung arrived soon after. Sora chuckled to himself and said, "You're very persistent in chasing me. Are you here to get me and turn me in or are you interested in this cat?" Balmung said defiantly, "You're just a stupid fool, thinking you can take that cat and use it for your own selfish reasons when you both are illegal to The World."

Balmung pointed his already drawn sword towards him and the cat. Sora suddenly got angry and said, "Don't call me a stupid fool! You are the fool for thinking you could stop me!" Balmung just smirked, "Correction, I can and will stop you. Idiots like you can never get away with it." Sora exploded "I'm not an idiot! You think you can push me around!" He stepped closer to the edge of the short cliff that led to a shore of rocks and the increasing waves as the tide was coming in.

Balmung's smirk quickly faded as he became tense. Sora said, "You think I need this thing anymore, I don't know how to use it anyways so I might as well throw it away. Oh but where shall I dispose of it, the rocks or the sea? Either way it would make you happy, one less bad thing in The World right?" He then held the cat by the nape of it's neck out over the edge as it began to weakly struggle and shiver. He then said, "Cats aren't very buoyant in water, let alone this weak thing." Balmung said calmly, "Don't do it Sora. Just hand it over to me and I'll let you go free." Sora just laughed and said, "You think I'd fall for that, ha!" He then threw the cat over the cliff. As it silently began to fall, probably unconscious or in shock while Sora escaped into the dungeon.

Balmung dashed over the edge to catch the feline. Luckily, the tide had already swept in so the threat of the rocks was diminished, only the water. There was a splash and then a bigger splash, then nothing. I was still waiting near the big boulders sitting on a rock holding the newly found gold bell, examining it. I was a little worried for Balmung and the cat, but I waited. Suddenly I heard distant footsteps behind me. I turned around to see Balmung walking towards me with the cat in his arms. I jumped up and ran towards him. The closer I got to him he looked exhausted and then I saw he was soaking wet. His feathers were soggy and his armor totally drenched; the cat was also wet and shivering.

I hugged Balmung and the cat, which he smiled at, but it faded when he looked down and saw how cold and shivering it was. I said, "Oh, no! Why the poor cat, we have to dry it off and get it warm!" Balmung shook his head and said, "It's very weak, I don't think it will make it. In other words this piece of data or virus is too damaged to be repaired so it would be deleted one way or another. I'm sorry, Diann." I felt a pain in my heart as he said "deleted" and began to feel sad. "How can you say that? You saved its life and now you're giving up on it?" Balmung walked over to a pile or leaves and laid the fading cat on them. I tried to say, "At least we could try to help it, heal it with our magic or an item, we can't just let it die!" "No Diann, there's nothing we can do…" Balmung put his head down as the cat's color began to turn pale.

I couldn't stand it. I began to cry and Balmung, in response, got up and comforted me, leading me away from the cat, casting out his wings so I couldn't look back. "Wait," I said as I turned around and ran back to the cat. I knelt down beside it and took out the gold cat bell. "Here, I think this belonged to you." I held it out to the cat. It opened its eyes, stopped shivering, and looked at the bright gold bell. I said with tears in my eyes, "This is for you, I'm so sorry." But as the cat took the gold bell it began to glow. The light was too bright so I covered my eyes with my arms as best as I could, but I felt Balmung reach out and pull me back in his arms shielding us with his wings. The bright light was soon gone, but the atmosphere was very light so it was still difficult to see and I could only catch a glimpse of that cat with the cat bell around its neck attached with red ribbon looking back at us and smiling almost looking as if it were saying "Thank you" to us and disappeared into the bushes.

After that, I had smiled and just stood with Balmung while he was saying the cat was some sort or virus, but I wasn't paying attention to him. Then I decided to log out for the day so I said, "Well Balmung, I think I'll log out for today." He seemed surprised, "Why? You haven't spent any time with me!" I said back to him, "You're not even in my party. I can do anything I want." He said, "Please, just one dungeon with me?" I thought about it and said, "Sure why not? Let's head back to the root town." Then we both gated out, but Balmung held my hand the whole time so I wouldn't try to leave or ditch him. So I spent the rest of the day with Balmung.


	3. Ghost dungeon

Sorry if I get some attack sayings wrong, I haven't played the game in awhile. Also sorry for my poor describing and first person writing skills. I wish to improve!

Login user Diann…

Logging in user…

AAAAHHHHH! Oh, sorry! I'm bummin'… had a bad day at school and now I thought just to log into The World.

Ah, this place is so relaxing to me, better than school… I just logged in to the server Dun Loireag because I just don't feel like being in Mac Anu; I have to get some open air! I walked to a nice hill, the grass calmly swaying in the breeze that would probably feel nice if this wasn't a game. Without another thought, I stepped down to the hill and lay down in the middle of it with closed eyes I listened to the different sounds. There were people chit-chatting near the shops, gathering supplies for a dungeon adventure or trading items. There was one particular voice that stood out, but it wasn't clear to me since it was far away. Soon I heard footsteps, probably passer-bys wondering what I was doing, but the footsteps grew closer and they were soon on the same grass on the hill, right next to me.

I didn't open my eyes to see who it was, but I soon realized that they were right above me, looking down at me. I made no movements when there was movement in the grass, then suddenly a face had bent down to my ear and yelled, "BOING! TIME TO WAKE UP!" I was surprised and shocked at the same time as I opened my eyes quickly and forced myself to sit up, but I smashed into the person who had been bent down straight onto the forehead. The same person yelled, "Ow! What's your head made of, you damaged my HP!" I then recognized the voice and then grew with alarm and worry. I stood up on my feet and turned around to see Sora on the ground rubbing his reddened forehead. "W-w-what do you want? Leave me alone!" I was confused why he was here, then I realized he still might be after me. I took a step back when Sora, fully recovered, stood up on his feet. "So what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" I was still confused, then that question had melted my brain, "Um, 24? No, it's a mouse? I can't think! AAAHHH!" I took my head in my hands and shook it from side to side while facing the sky. Suddenly I stopped when I regained my logical thinking, and looked down to a confused Sora who was just staring at me like I needed a chill pill.

"As I was saying, I was looking for you for quite awhile and now I've found you…" Sora said. "What?" My confusion brought back to me, "Listen, if you want my member address, then forget it because I'm not giving it to you. You better not hurt me either or else, I'll call Balmung on you!" Sora looked amused, "You think your knight in shining armor is going to help you now, you shouldn't always rely on him. Besides, I didn't come for that, maybe some other time, but I need your help…" I felt a little fear, but I was curious to what he wanted my help for. Sora went on, "I recall your name is Diann right? You see, I found a really weird place, and it's really fun too! I was on my way through it, but I can't get to the last floor of the dungeon. There's some sort of wall there that's blocking anyone from entering past that point. I've tried everything to get through there, then I stumbled upon a hidden door which led to a room with this statue in it. There was nothing else in the room, but I kept searching and found a written passage under the statue and it read "To find the truth beyond the door you must find the woman who uses magic and under level 20, for she is the only one who is fated to see it." As soon as I read it I instantly thought of you!" He smiled at you childishly. I thought of it, does it really mean me? What did it mean? Am I really going to go with this guy who may do anything at anytime to go on his adventure? Then I realized something, "Hey! That's mean! Under level 20? How do you know that that is a weak level! Do you think that I'm weak! Argh!" I got angry at him and almost stomped away. He said in a mock tone, "Because I know your weak, I have my ways…" He stepped towards my leaving form and grabbed my loose swinging arm and pulled me back. I was scared more than angry, of what he might do; I only looked at him hiding my emotions that threatened to show on my face.

Sora looked at me, "If you do this and help me then I maybe won't go after Balmung or kidnap you or anything bad, I really want to finish this dungeon and I need your help, will you help me?" He looked really serious; I didn't know what he wanted from that place or anything going through his head. After long thought I didn't think it was that bad, so I decided "Alright, fine, but any funny business, and I'm gating out in a finger snap!" He smiled, "Yay! Now we get to go on a dungeon adventure together, let's go now!" He grabbed my hand and ran down to the chaos gate staggering to keep up with his fast speed, twinbladers are always the fastest in the game, especially Sora; I'm amazed I even kept up with him. We arrived at the chaos gate quickly after and Sora then stopped and turned to me with a mischievous look on his face. "You know, it might not be good to go as two separate people, we should join parties…" Sora said. I gasped as I realized what he was doing, "Now I know, you just want to get my member address don't you, this is just some kind of trick!"

"I'm serious, a wavemaster by herself in a party isn't good at all, you need to join my party." I yelled at him, "Look, I said I was going with you, but I'm not going to be in your party!" Sora yelled just as easily back, "Fine then, but you better help me during some of the battles." I was dumbfounded, "You need my help during battles? I thought you could handle yourself since you are the greatest twinblade-" Sora interrupted, "Oh, but I'm not the greatest magic user, just heal me or something that's all." I sighed, "Fine, let's just go before I change my mind." Sora turned back around to face the chaos gate and said the words, "Repeat the words I do…Lonely Silent Truth!" At once he warped out; I hesitated, and then repeated his words, "Lonely Silent Truth!"

As soon as I warped in to the place, it felt windy and cold. It was nighttime and the moon was clear in the dark sky, it was starting to feel spooky. I looked over to see Sora looking at me to know I had arrived with him, he looked ready to go. "Hurry up already, we're wasting time!" I saw he had already used a fairy orb to access the map so now it was easy to get to the dungeon. Sora looked annoyed, and as soon as I had walked up to him, he began to run towards the dungeon. I was in awe how fast he really was and just stood there, then came out of my trance and began to run after him. He was too far up ahead and, being me a wavemaster, I was slow as a turtle. Sora must have forgotten I was slow, when he arrived at the dungeon entrance, made of bones. He looked back to see a dot of Diann, far in the distance hardly making any progress towards the dungeon in his point of view. He sighed in annoyance and ran back to her. He grabbed her arm and dragged her the way back to the entrance without a word. I was embarrassed for that so I said nothing about it, but merely followed him into the dungeon. Inside, it was spooky looking, with the dark and dim surroundings; a typical dungeon, the BMG wasn't making anything better. It still felt cold in this place, and I could hear something faint, but I paid no attention to it. Since he went back into the dungeon, he would probably know the way there, only the monsters were reset back now. Then a thought occurred to me, how many levels was this dungeon? What level was this dungeon, and what kind of monsters lurked here; how many? I was interrupted in my thought by Sora telling me, "This way, come on."

He led me through the first door which was a big square room with two doors one on the right and the other on the left, no magic portal, that was good…Then I saw some items in the corners, two of them were skeletons and the other two some pots. I didn't know what Sora wanted to do, would we gather items along the way or just keep going? My question was soon answered by him running to the right door, waiting for me to hurry to him, through that door. This was a small room, with one door leading to the next room. I looked to the corner of the room and I saw out of the corner of my eye something looking at me. I turned to see a skeleton on the ground staring at me; this place was making my nerves sensitive. Sora walked towards the next room, telling me, "Get ready, there's a battle up ahead!" before heading through it. I followed, but that feeling of something watching me creeped through my veins. He was right, as soon as we had entered, there was a magic portal activated by our arrival into the room. It opened and out popped a monster, but it didn't seem like an ordinary monster. It was floating in the air, some sort of black ghost like thing. It was a bit deformed but had some sort of aura it was giving off.

The creature seemed to look at us and float there, but not attacking us, then I was shocked to find Sora wasn't attacking it; I quickly looked over to him. He looked confused, "That's strange, this monster wasn't here last time. Oh well, it's gonna be destroyed!" Then he drew out his twinblades and attacked it. This ghost-like figure stood it's ground, not being affected by Sora's hits. We were confused, Sora then tried to use an attack, "Fire dragon!" His blades were on fire and he slashed at the figure, who just stood there, several times. Sora looked shocked it didn't work, or that it didn't attack back. He quickly turned to me, "Maybe he's a physical tolerant monster, use you magic!" I nodded and used my magic, "Thunder bolt!" A magic bolt suddenly shot from the air and hit the ghost monster yet it still didn't phase him. We were now both terrified, the monster seemed to smile wickedly at us and disappear right infront of our eyes.

Sora's voice was shaky, "Wha-what was that thing? It wasn't here before…" I was completely freaked out; the image of that ghost-like figure smiling had burned into my eyelids. I couldn't help but shake when the room we were in immediately got colder, to the point where I could see my own breath. I turned to Sora who was shaking a little too, "S-s-s-so what are we gonna do? Do we keep going or go back?" Now I was holding my sides because it was so ice cold now, it was hard not to stutter. Sora said nothing, but moved on towards the next door. I couldn't help but follow him as we entered the next room, another big square room. I looked around to see if anything was out of the ordinary, no skeletons, no magic portals, no ghost…wait, there was nothing in this room? It wasn't as cold as the last room, but I could still see my breath. Sora and I stood there looking, hearing for anything; we heard nothing. There was no BGM, no sound effects of us walking as we continued to on to the next room. We quickly left to the next room which fortunately was the way down to the next level, or maybe it was unfortunate since we are going further into this creepy place. We kept on going to the second level hoping that that ghost is gone and nothing else will get in our way, oh why did I agree to do this?

The story is just about to go downhill from here, meaning, it's gonna be a little fast forward to the end. I feel like I'm making an epic journey here with this story, it's taking me 5 or 6 years just to get back at it. But don't be discouraged!! I urge you to continue on reading if your actually still here reading this! I'm gonna make things more interesting, hopefully to you, it's gonna get dark...okay, not that dark...


	4. Blackout!

Hey, her thoughts are in italics now! Ha! I might just end up going back and forth from italics to just regular..bah..

Both Sora and I had just made it to the next floor. Our footsteps could be heard echoing throughout the dungeon. Every room we entered had no portals, no treasure, nothing, but the sound of our footsteps. What was going on? Sora was quiet now...too quiet...I'm not sure what was up with him anymore. "Hey, Sora, why did you choose this place anyways?" "..." Still nothing from him. _He's starting to annoy me! He just keeps walking ahead towards the next room...hey when does this dungeon end anyways? _I looked on my monitor for the map, but it did not show the next room. _I thought we activated the fairy orb already, this is just getting stranger and stranger.._

We continued to enter empty room after room with nothing in them until suddenly Sora blurted out, "I'm tired of this! Where is it?" "Where is what?" I ask, but before I know it he's running into the next room ahead, leaving me speechless. "Wait! Come back!" I frantically try to catch up, but he's too fast; he is a twinblade after all and I lose him. _Great, doesn't he know it's not good for a wavemaster to be by herself? I hope I don't get lost. I mean it's the third floor right? I just have to get to the treasure room...does this dungeon even have any treasure in it? How many floors until I get to the bottom? What if I get lost? Wait! What if this was Sora's intention after all? What if he wanted to leave me behind? Was this dungeon one big prank, maybe that ghost like monster we saw back their was his idea? Could it? Why am I being so paranoid about it? Why am I asking myself these questions? _"STOP IT!" ...Okay, that was uncalled for, I quickly regain my composure and go further on ahead.

As soon as I get into the next room, I see a dark figure run past the corner in the direction of the next room. I become alert and cautious. _It might be the ghost thing! I hope not! Maybe it's Sora, it better be. _I walk slowly and cautiously to the furthest side so I'm not right up against the corner. Step by step I get to the corner and look past it. _Nothing there, WHEW! _I relax now, and decide to press onward into the NEXT ROOM, when will it end?

This room was different, not by a lot though, it was one long hallway. I see the door to the next room slightly...yet, there is a figure going to the next room. I squint to see it look somewhat like...Sora! I start running to the door...now I can't hear my footsteps, I can' hear anything. When I start getting closer to the door, purple mist starts to rise from out of nowhere. _This is scary now. But Sora's in there, so I'm going in! _

I enter the room and see Sora standing with his back faced to me in the center of the room. _Finally! No more doors, but there's no treasure either...this is just a dead end._ "I KNEW IT! You are up to something!" "..." Sora is silent, something just wasn't right, what was he up to? I walk slowly towards him. "Sora?" He starts to turn around slowly, with a evil grin on his face. I become alarmed, not knowing what he might do next. "Sora? What's going on?" "...I found it..." He starts to gurgle laughter, then he takes one step toward's me. "I've got the treasure, and now I'll get you..." I'm caught off guard, "WHAT?" _What in The World does he mean? He can't possibly..._ Sora takes more steps and draws out his blades. _OH! Now I know what he means! He's going to kill me...WAIT! HE'S GOING TO KILL ME? _"Wait! Stop!" I use my staff to defend myself, close my eyes, and brace for whatever's coming...I keep my eyes closed still as I hear nothing again. ..._Am I dead? Did he kill me? I didn't feel anything, I don't hear him running. Maybe he's joking with me, like when I open my eyes he's going to say, "Just kidding!" And laugh at me, I'm gonna look! _As soon as I open my eyes I see those haunting ghostly eyes staring into mine. It was the ghost-like monster from before, right up in my face with a chilling smile. I screamed in horror. Then my screen went black with white noise drowning out every other noise. That's all I could remember when I blacked out...

Baah! So straight to the point, it's short too, and I'm a slow updater. I think I've gotten dumber from when I started this story ,


	5. Where Am I?

Sorry to those who actually waited on me! I hope you like how this turns out.

* * *

There's a blinding light all around me. _What's going on? Am I dead? No. What was I doing? Think! Remember! Remember what!? Ow!_ A sharp pain in my head began to ache. That was all I could feel at the moment. I couldn't feel my real self, I didn't know if my eyes were open. There's a blinding light surrounding me. I blur into unconsciousness again... 

I slowly open my eyes, but I do not feel myself opening them. It felt like I was dreaming and I couldn't feel anything. The blinding light comes at me again, but it begins to change. Soon the light dims into a pale gray and opens up into a dull whiteness. The pain in my head has subsided. Are my eyes really open? I blink a few times to see if I'm awake. Something felt strange. I can feel myself blink. _What?_ Now I'm starting to feel my surroundings. I blink a few times more and I try to move my hands. I could feel a solid ground beneath my palms, but I notice I'm wearing gloves over my hands.

_Wait a minute!! Back up! Where am I? Okay, I was playing the game. I logged in as normal and went with Sora to this dungeon. We made our way down to the lowest level and Sora starts acting like...Sora and...I don't remember after that. But hey! I was PLAYING in The World. The only things I'm supposed to be feeling is my butt in a chair and my hands on the controller! Now I'm feeling ground?_ I realize I'm lying on my back, staring up at some white dullness. _Wait a sec- what if I was kidnapped and taken somewhere. AM I DEAD?!? That couldn't happen! But what if someone actually snuck into the house and knocked me out? That would explain the pain in my head. And now I'm outside in the middle of no where!! What has he done to me?!?!? What's going on? This can't be happening!!_

I snap myself out of it. _Okay, what do I do now?_ Just then, I notice there are no sounds being made. Maybe if I hear something I can recognize where I might possibly be. The only thing I could hear was an empty void, a hollow sound, as if it was a silent winter night after a snow storm. It did start to feel a little cold. I slowly turned my head to the side before sitting up. I was confused but in awe at the same time of the sight around me...

"I believe I'm on some sort of beach." I said to myself a little later. I stood up and began to walk around a bit. The sand was pale white and the ocean was a blackish gray. There was no life here, and the colors are pale, if any colors were here. Near the waves, all one could here was this huge void and the sound of waves, but nothing more. _I don't think I was kidnapped, but then where am I?_ _I feel so confused._ There was no end to the ocean before me and no other type of land in site. I closed my eyes and sighed to myself. Just then I heard footsteps behind me. I quickly turned around and was shocked.

No one was there. Instead there were patches of grass in the sand leading further up, continuing to a hill. The grass was a pale green, like everything else lifeless in this place. I became curious as to what was beyond the hill. Before I knew it, I had started walking towards the hill. _Well, I have nothing better to do._ At the top I was amazed at the beautiful sight. A large, endless field of flowers of all kinds. I sighed in awe and walked into the field. So many different flowers, but they all were pale colored, however, slightly brighter than anything else in this godforsaken world. Just then a soft breeze came by. The flowers seemed to have more life when they swayed in the wind.

I felt at peace for a moment and I began to wonder if I could find a bell flower. Bell flowers are my favorite. I looked around the ground. There were so many different flowers and most I didn't know the names of; I couldn't identify any of them, but I have seen them before. Slowly, but eventually one flower stood out from the rest. I looked at it to see it was a blue bell shaped flower. It was so beautiful, I went over to it and kneeled down. looking at it for awhile. _Should I pick it? It's too beautiful to pick, and it seems to be the only one growing here._ I looked around and to my surprise I found another one, identical to it growing a few feet away among some other flowers.

_Hrm...something's going on_...I pondered, but I shook the thought away when obviously something's been going on ever since I woke up here. For now, I picked the flower neatly near its roots and stood up straight. I looked at the flower again and thought about peaceful happy memories, of Balmung and other things. Suddenly, a voice from behind spoke and broke the silence of this world. "What are you doing here?" I looked back and gasped, dropping the bell flower. The one I had been thinking about just moments before, standing ever so calmly, in a world that was devoid of life, was here. _He seems to be the only living thing here, so full of color_, I thought, _but then again I'm here, so am I a lifeless being as well?_

"Hello? What's with you?" He said confused. "Balmung!!" I cried and ran to him. I was happy to see such a familiar face. However, before I could touch him he sidestepped out of my way and I tripped trying to stop. _Now I'm confused, why did he do that?_ Balmung had an annoyed look on his face, "I'll ask again, since you seem to not hear me. What are you doing here?" _Was this Balmung I was looking at? I stared at him with uncertainty._ Balmung's expression changed from annoyance to anger. "It's rude to stare, just as rude as running into people. If you don't answer then I will draw my sword!" "What? But Bal-" I stopped when he drew his sword and pointed at me. "Leave now! Or I will strike you down!" "I don't know what's going on!!" I yelled. He just grew angrier and barked back, "LEAVE!!"

I stepped back and tears began to come to my eyes. _That's not Balmung, he acts like he doesn't know who I am._ "Don't you recognize me? Diann!! Balmung, do you remember me?" Balmung did not change his expression and said angrily, "How do you act like you know me? I have no idea who you are...except an enemy!" With that said he moved into a fighting position and ran towards me. I was in horror as he raised his sword above him. "Wait!!! NOOOO!!!" He closed in and slashed at me. I shut my eyes and put my hands out in front to defend myself. I felt nothing except a strong blast of wind pushing me back. Then I suddenly fell unconscious...

I slowly awaken to a blinding light that turned pale. I was on my back again looking up at that all too familiar lifeless sky. I quickly sat up and looked at my surroundings. I was in the same spot I had been in before when I first woke up. In the sand, on the lifeless beach, looking at the gray ocean. I got up and looked over myself to see if I had any cuts or such. There was nothing. Then I remembered what had happened. _Balmung, or rather this somebody who looks like him killed me. KILLED ME!! So then why did I end up here again?_ I looked to where I had gotten up from and saw the bell flower. I picked it up, this is the one I had. _Wait, so maybe I didn't get killed?_ I looked up to see the hill again and I walked ever so swiftly towards it. At the top was the same endless field of flowers.

I stopped to think for a minute. _Just what the hell is going on here? First of all I end up here to god knows where and then Balmung shows up and acts like I'm the scum of the earth and attacks me with all the intention of killing me._ After I had thought that, tears formed again. _But why would he do that? He's not Balmung at all. Then who is he?_ Again a familiar voice broke me out of my thoughts. "What are you doing here?" I looked up and see the same guy who had tried to kill me staring at me. But his expression was different this time, it was calmer and peaceful, not angry and hostile. _Great, is he gonna kill me again? It's gonna turn into a never ending cycle; that would suck._

He just stood there and waited, all the while staring at me, until I answered him. "Balmung?" I asked unsure of what to expect. "Hmm? What's wrong? Are you lost?" I hesitated and asked him, "Do you know who I am?" He smiled and said straight out, "Why no, but I would love to get acquainted." An arrow of preposterous size shot straight into my heart. "What? You don't remember me? My name's Diann! Remember? We used to go on adventures?" He smiled again, but with confusion, "I'm sorry, but I don't know anybody by that name. Here, maybe I can help you?" He held out his hand suggesting I walk over to him. I staggered backwards almost falling. _I can not believe he doesn't know me._ Tears were streaming down my face now. _Where am I? What is this cruel place? This isn't The World, nor is this my home. What happened to me?_

My thoughts were interrupted by a splash of water. I looked up at the sky and saw the pale turn a dark grey. Everything grew dimmer and droplets of water began to rain down over the field. I looked over at Balmung who still had his hand held out to me. I asked him pleadingly, "Where are we? What is this place?" Balmung only stared at me with a confused look and said flatly, "Come here." What the hell? It was raining steadily now and I was getting soaked. I walked over to him and went to take his hand. Before I could however, he drew it away and side stepped. I looked at him confused. _Does he not want me to touch him? Then why the hell do you put your hand out if you don't want anyone to touch it?_ He slowly backed away from me and began to point at something behind him.

I looked over at what he was possibly pointing at and what I saw almost made me sank to my knees. I walked forward a few steps and gawked at what was before me. It was a stoned pathway the width of a two lane road with high walls bordering each side. But what it led up to in the distance was high into the sky covered in fog. I could still make it out even from here...it was the cathedral in Delta Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground. _Was I actually still in The World this whole time? That's impossible, I can't feel anything when I play in The World, but I'm feeling the rain drops on me and the coldness of the air._ I looked back to where Balmung had been standing ever so silent.

He was gone. I looked around, everything was so darker, it made me scared of being there now that I was alone again. I turned back to the path.

A thought jolted my head, _maybe there's a chaos gate up there?_ _If that's really the place I think it is, then I definitely should go there for help._ "There's no turning back now" I muttered under my breath and started walking towards the stoned pathway.


	6. Lost in the Pain

Now it get's more conflicting! Yay! I already finished writing the story, so now all I have to do is grammar check it.

Um...yeah...Enjoy dedicated reader!

* * *

The pathway began to narrow slightly as I made my way up the increasing hill of stone. The cathedral was in sight now in front of me, just a little longer and I'll make it to the doors. _I'm so exhausted right now, I could collapse any minute. All that walking, why did it have to be so far away?!? And close to touching the sky? Making it tougher on me; like climbing the Great Pyramids!! Plus it hasn't stopped raining ever since! I've been cold and wet for a long while; I'm surprised that I haven't caught a fever by now!_

My mind was droning away now. I've lost a lot of energy, but I keep going.

I was now standing at the front of the steps, below the closed doors ahead. "FINALLY!!" I said exhaustingly, yet happily. I was more than willing to go inside_...that is..if I can...make...it...up...the...ste...ps..._I was drifting into unconsciousness. _No! Have to...get to the...doors..._

I dragged one step forward and tripped on the first step face first. _...Ow..._I looked up, my eyes trying to close, my vision blurry. I had to crawl the rest of the way up the steps. I was barely able to reach the doors. I tried to stay awake long enough to at least push one of the doors open, and stick my hand inside. But I was overcome with a strong dizziness and passed out.

* * *

Balmung had seen Diann and Sora leave Dun Lorieag. He was curious and a little worried. Why would she go with the likes of him? He decided to follow them to the dungeon. But then, he had lost track when Sora sped up, maybe he knew he was following them? He caught up to them at last though, only to see Diann's grey unconscious PC body on the ground and Sora with his twin blades drawn. A deep rage roared through him and he dashed towards Sora. Sora stood there shocked at the body on the floor, not expecting a fist to the jaw. It knocked him down and he became aware of what just happened. 

Balmung picked him up by his collar and yelled at him, "What the hell did you do to her?!?" Sora looked Balmung straight in the eye and muttered, "...I-I...don't know what happened!" Balmung's anger grew, "What?!?" "S-she was b-behind me and...then...she was on t-the ground!" Balmung's eyes widened and he dropped Sora leaving him coughing on the ground. He went over to Diann's PC body and tried to use Rip Mean. It had no effect.

Balmung was confused, then he gasped when her PC body slowly faded. Sora got up quickly upon seeing her PC body dissappear and he said, still trembling, "I have to go now! I have to leave!" He quickly left the dungeon. Balmung tried to stop him, but it was too late. He thought, "_Great, that guy is just full of it...oh well, I hope Diann's okay...I should have been there, I should have kept up with them, it's all my fault...I have to apologize.._" With that he left the dungeon as well.

* * *

I slowly drift into consciousness again. I was lying on my back. Something hard and cold. My head on it's side. I opened my eyes slowly. I was in one of the pews in the cathedral. I sat up only to feel very light-headed. I held my head in one hand as I continued to look around. I was three pews away from Aura's Statue, still looking as sad and bound the last time I was here. But I was surprised to see the back of a familiar person staring up at the statue. It was Sora. 

"S-Sora?" I called out to him, he turned to look at me when he heard my voice. His face suddenly grew very relieved and...happy. "Diann! You're awake!" It felt awkward for a moment. _Was he the real Sora? Am I really at the cathedral with him?_...I just didn't know anymore.

I slid off of the pew and walked out to the center of the aisle. Sora walked the few steps the rest of the way over to me. He suddenly grabbed me and hugged me very tightly. "Ah, are you okay?" I asked him, not knowing how to react to his embrace. He answered back, "I should be asking you that, silly!" _Wait a second, this isn't the Sora I know. He wouldn't say 'silly' and suddenly be happy I'm awake. I thought he'd be happier if I died, I mean he was intentionally trying to kill me when we were in the dungeon...before something happened..Then again, I was at the opening of the cathedral doors, so maybe he saw me and carried me in. Someone like him wouldn't do something like that...unless...he really cares.._

I suddenly noticed he was staring into my eyes, then, how close his face was to mine. Before I could say anything, he placed his mouth on mine. I widened my eyes and pushed him away, "What the hell are you doing?!? Blargh!! Egh! Why did you do that?!? That was my **FIRST KISS YOU IDIOT**!! That was supposed to be saved for Balmung!! Can't you have some common decency?! I mean, who wants there first kiss to come from a video game?! Though kissing Balmung is still in the game, who cares?!? And besides, it's different!! **I CAN FEEL THINGS**!!!" Sora did not react as if he were rejected or embarassed, instead, his face darkened and grim. "I'm dissappointed..." Was all he said and he brushed by me and left the cathedral.

"Oh, well that went well..." _GOD!!! I HATE THIS!!!_ And now I'm feeling dizzy again. My balance was starting to falter, so I grabbed a nearby pew to hold myself up. I heard footsteps at the door. I turned to see Sora again, his head low and his face darkened. He took a few steps forward, his arms low, then he drew his twin blades and smiled wickedly. He lunged at me before I even had time to react. I could only stumble backwards.

Suddenly, a heavy force of wind blew me off my feet. I can feel myself flying backwards through the air, my hair is flailing all around me and I know I'm outside again; passing through the field of flowers, petals smacking my face. I black out, but not before hearing a soft thud...

* * *

"No answer" Balmung said, as his real world self hung up the phone, picked it up, and re-dialed again. He had tried to call Diann, but she was not picking up her phone. He knew that no one other than Diann would pick up the phone, since she's by herself at home most of the time. Her parents worked in different places at different times, so it was rare that they would be home at this hour and since her grandmother and younger sister were away on vacation, she was pretty much by herself most of the time; she had told him that once before. 

The phone rang over and over, no one was going to pick up. Now Balmung began to worry. "Why isn't she picking up?...Maybe she's back in The World?" He resumed playing and headed for the chaos gate.

An hour had gone by...not a single clue that she had come by here. Balmung had asked every player that came through the chaos gate if they saw her, but no one came close to saying they had. Now the little worry was growing and he was becoming frantic. He went to the forums and posted a message about her. Then, he sent an email to an administrator about her. He couldn't help but think that something really bad happened, maybe even like before...No! He wouldn't believe such a thing! He told himself to keep his faith that she just didn't feel like playing right now. "Yeah, I mean, if I had leveled up a lot and then lost all of my data, I would just be as pissed off and not play for a while." He told himself reassuringly. But there was still doubt in his heart.

"Hey, did you find her?" Came an all too familiar voice behind Balmung. Upon hearing him, Balmung's blood boiled and he turned around quickly to see Sora looking anxious, yet stressed. "What the hell are you doing here?" He said to Sora with a growl. Sora looked scared for a moment, but he bit back in defense, "It wasn't my fault! I didn't hurt her!" "Then what the hell happened back there!!!" Sora grew quiet and looked down. "Answer me!!" Balmung yelled. Sora trembled and his eyes widened a little, "I-I...don't want to remember...I can't!!! I can't remember!! All I know was that something...something-" "What!?! Tell Me! Something what!?" Balmung held Sora by the shoulders shaking him angrily. Sora looked Balmung straight in the eye, "Something, or someone was there...and it attacked her..."

His voice trailed off, then he suddenly broke from Balmung's grasp and said, "I'm sorry...I need time..." With that he went to the chaos gate and logged out. Balmung stood there stunned at the news. He wanted to ask Sora, what was this something? Why didn't he protect her? Did he lead her there on purpose? Why did it attack her? Where is she now? Then a thought dawned on him, what if this something really did hurt her, what if she... Suddenly alarmed, he quickly ran to the chaos gate and logged out.

* * *

It was warm. I opened my eyes to a light colored scene. There were cherry blossoms floating all around, among the trees, one of those cheesy romantic scenes I thought. Off in the distance I could see two people. A male's back facing me and the outline of a girl facing the boy. I walked a little closer to get a better look. I recognized the back of the boy. It resembled Balmung with his silvery spikey hair. I couldn't see the girl all too well, but she had light-pink, short hair and was wearing a beautiful pink kimono. 

I walked a little closer, knowing for sure that was Balmung. I tried to call out to him, but my voice was small and distant. I could see them hug now and then they began to lean in closer to each other. I grew frantic and ran to them as fast as I could, more than willing to knock them both down. I couldn't let them do what they were about to do, I had to stop them. With one last yell I jumped at them. But...I didn't hit anything. I flew right through the two of them and hit the ground hard. I looked back up at them in confusion and saw that they were kissing. There faces were blurring now as tears flooded my eyes. _Why was this happening?_ I collapsed my head back onto the ground and cried out. Then everything went black again.

I woke back up in a different place now. I remember seeing the field of flowers before I K.O'd again, but I was seeing the ceiling of the cathedral now. One of the swinging pendulums swung above me. I was on the floor near one of the pews on the right, the statue some feet away. I slowly got up, my head feeling slightly better from the dizziness than before.

Then I remembered that nightmare, it felt surreal, yet real at the same time. My heart ached to see something like that, _why would I do that to myself?_ I got up feeling a sense of loss and went outside. To my surprise, as soon as I opened the cathedral doors to the outside, the beach was just a couple of meters away from the cathedral, instead of miles. I walked down to the beach, still as pale looking as ever.

Then I looked around for the field of flowers to see if it was much closer now. To my surprise, I was suddenly there, not sure how, but I was there. The back of that same man was there again. It was Balmung alright, but I wasn't sure how to approach him this time. First, he kills me. Next, he doesn't know who I am. Then, he kisses some girl I don't know and I run right through him. Now here he is again. _Maybe this time, he'll explode._

I slowly made my way to him, until I was only at arms reach from him. He hadn't noticed I was behind him, so I made an effort to reach out to him. I lifted my arm and tried to touch his back, however, it went through him also. This frightened me a little, I didn't like this at all. _Maybe this was the reason why he wouldn't let me touch him before?_ Just then, I realized I wasn't in the field of flowers.

I was transported to the chaos gate in Mac Anu. I felt disbelief for a second. Amidst a bumbling crowd of players that walked right through me, I could see Balmung talking to Sora. They were yelling at each other, but I couldn't understand what either was saying. I went over to them and reached for Balmung's shoulder. _No good, still went through him. Maybe if I try this..._

"HEY!!! OVER HERE!!!" I practically yelled into Balmung's ear. It didn't faze him. A thought hit me. _This...this must be the REAL Balmung and Sora, in The REAL World! They can't see me. They can't hear me. But how I wanted them to see me. I wanted them to find me._

A deep realization hit me._ They **can't** find me. They never will, I'm going to be alone forever._ I sank to my knees. _Why is this happening to me?_ Tears were streaming down my face now, my breathing getting heavy and frantic. I couldn't help but let out a cry. I collapsed on the floor and closed my eyes._ I'm wishing for something, someone to save me. I can't stand being here anymore..._my mind grew fuzzy and went blank.

* * *

The sky is pale. The colors are pale. There is no color. I was on the beach without even realizing it. I couldn't remember what I was doing there. I don't even remember what I did after collapsing. That felt like a long time ago. I felt myself moving forward, walking ankle deep into the cold grey water of the ocean. 

Then I found myself staring at the words on the front of Aura's statue. They were the names of the eight phases. I remember a little story Balmung told me once of his adventures. The phases were his enemy. They're names were: Skeith, Innis, Magus, Fidchell, Gorre, Macha, Tarvos, and Corbenik...

My mind wandered off again, until I heard the doors to the cathedral open. I heard the footsteps of someone walking my way. I didn't bother turning around, it didn't matter who it was anymore, they couldn't harm me no matter what they did. The person walked right through me, figures, and it was none other than that man again..._The white knight, that's a nice name for him. He's very handsome, I've seen him many times, but he can't see me, he can't hear me...he can't save me..._

That man looked up at the statue ever so sadly. He started to talk aloud. People only do that when they are **alone**. I didn't want to call him by his name. I was afraid something might happen again if I did, then I wouldn't be able to see him anymore. His presence was something that I needed. Though I could not reach him, it brought me comfort that I could at least see him, even if it wasn't really him.

He was talking to the statue about how things were cruel and unfair in life. He said there was a girl he knew...and she was in a coma now...something happened to her...and now...she wouldn't be able to wake up for awhile...she was sleeping he said. That was a month ago when he found out. News got out to the media that more comatose victims were popping up out of nowhere in the game.

His voice dripped with melancholy. "Why did she have to be one of them?" He looked up. "Where are you? I want to see you...I want to reach you...why aren't you here?" He held his hand out to the dull light shining behind the statue. A smile formed on my face, and I couldn't help but laugh. I threw my head back and let out my anguish. The teardrops falling from my eyes. I was choking on my laughs as they turned into sobs._ My heart hurts...it all feels so hopeless..._

I looked over at Balmung with pain. I was taken aback, however, when he looked back to where I was, straight into my eyes. I gasped, hoping that this one wouldn't screw me over. I wanted to say his name...but he had already turned away and left the cathedral. I stood there feeling at a loss. _What was that just now? Did he see me for just that minute? Or is it just one of those fakes tricking me again?_ The hopelessness returned and I left the cathedral as well.

* * *

Balmung had found out soon after he had logged out. 

Her mother called back and asked him if he knew anything about what happened to Diann. He found out that they came home to her collapsed in front of her terminal. They thought she was sleeping, but realized she wouldn't get up. They called Balmung, because he was the last on the Caller ID. He had asked for their address, but she wouldn't tell him.

Later on, he found his way to the hospital in where she was being held at. He had asked for her room and went in to see her. He never really met her in real life, they haven't even established an official relationship yet, it was all just protecting and hugging, but never anything else beyond that.

He saw the real her lying in the hospital bed. He was surprised by her appearance; she looked very similar to what her PC character is like..except a little...chubbier. But, it wasn't chubby chubby, it was cute chubby. A small smile played on his lips. She looked like she was sleeping. He dropped the bouquet of flowers he had bought for her on a desk near her bed. His hand lifted to caress her cheek. He never wanted to meet her like this.

* * *

She always liked this place too much. It was always quiet and tranquil. The statue of Aura seemed sadder than ever. He wanted to talk his feelings out, even if it was weird to talk out loud to yourself. He hoped that by speaking in a place she liked to be, the words might be able to reach her somehow. 

When he was done voicing his conflicts, he was ready to leave. He suddenly caught a glimpse of her figure near the statue. She was looking at him, her face full of sorrow. He blinked twice, then nothing was there. He thought to himself, maybe he was hallucinating? He had been focusing all of his attention on her. He tried visiting her every week under the false impression he was a relative. He didn't even think of calling himself her boyfriend, he didn't deserve to be called that...not just yet anyways.

Maybe this place wanted to convey what was left of her memories. He didn't want her to be a memory. He wanted for them both to come back here again and make more memories. With that resolution, he turned and left without looking back.

* * *

I found myself in the field of flowers again. I sat down on the pale green grass, not caring what flowers I sat on. I picked whatever was nearby and fumbled with it in my hands. I wanted to reminisce the good old days, back when he and I first met...

* * *

Gods, that was longer than I thought. And the next chapter will be **longer**!! But it's mostly flashback, past event stuff, good thing it's full of fluffy goodness.


End file.
